In the pedagogical literature, one regularly finds lists that seek to sum and distill the essence of successful teaching, to offer all the advice teachers need in a few over-arching principles. The objective is noble and difficult to achieve. Can all the complexities and vagrancies of teaching be so compressed? Can lists based on the experience of one be representative of the experiences of all? But still the lists are helpful. They return us to the basics and call us to confront the details of our own teaching. This article contains condensed and abbreviated versions of two such lists.